PASSION

Carlo Facetti at the Museum

December 18, 2019

When the names we're talking about arrive at the Museum, we almost live in a "magic". It's as if reading a book, the protagonists become real.

It was a beautiful Christmas gift to give the Museum the great pilot Carlo Facetti. Gift for which we want to thank the friends of the Swiss Classic Racing Team who hosted him during their Christmas dinner.

Just him, one of the pilots we mention when we talk about the trophies kept in the Cozzi.Lab, he even won five of those you can admire at the Museum. The first trophy (exhibited) won by Carlo Facetti, dates back to 1963 and was made by Pericle Fazzini. In 1964 it was awarded with the "Discus" by Lucio Fontana. In 1969 he won the bas-relief by Emilio Greco and in 1971 it was the turn of Luigi Broggini's eulogy at speed. The following year it was Agenore Fabbri who signed the trophy won by Facetti.

 

Carlo Facetti belongs to a family that is well known in the world of motor racing. His father Piero, after the experience gained as a mechanic by Gigi Villoresi, Piero Taruffi and Alberto Ascari, became one of the most esteemed preparers of the 1950s and 1960s, for his elaborations based on Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ and Giulia GTA, with whom many private drivers often competed for victory to the official crews.

His brother Giuliano won the title of Italian Tourism Champion "class 1300" in 1967 while his sister Rosadele won the title of "Italian women's absolute championship" in 1965 and 1966.

He made his debut in motor racing at the age of 18 by taking part in the 1953 Giro di Calabria as co-equipier of Elio Zagato, before moving on to Formula Junior, where in 1960 he decided to build a car using the Lancia Appia engine, after having used cars from other manufacturers such as De Sanctis, Dagrada and Branca.

In the 1960s he was a driver involved in many different categories at the same time (like most of the drivers of the period): in 1962 he was Italian Gran Turismo "1300 class" champion with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, in 1965 he obtained the second place in the final classification of the Italian Formula 3 championship behind Andrea De Adamich and at the same time he was test driver and driver in Formula 2 of the Pederzani brothers' Tecno, taking part in the Temporada Argentina, which took place when the European season had already ended[1]. He has gained the national limelight and is hired by Alfa Romeo through Carlo Chiti's Autodelta to drive the Sport Prototype Type 33.

He took part in various editions of the 24 Heures du Mans: in 1968 he finished fifth overall with Spartaco Dini at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo Type 33 from the official Autodelta team, while in 1973, he finished 15th overall again with an Alfa Romeo Type 33TT3 from Scuderia Brescia Corse with two other Italian drivers, Sergio Morando and Teodoro Zeccoli. In the 1980 edition he won his class, reaching 19th place overall, driving a Lancia Beta Montecarlo. In the same car, with Michele Alboreto and Eddie Cheever as teammates, he reached 8th place overall the following year.

In 1979 he won the European Touring Car Championship with Martino Finotto at the wheel of a BMW 3.0 CSL.

Facetti on Lancia "Turbo-Stratos" in test at Mugello in 1976
His activity in the racing world has often been linked to that of Martino Finotto. In addition to the qualifying attempt mentioned with a Brabham from Team Finotto, the two raced together for many years. At the end of their career as drivers they founded together the "CARMA" (acronym of the two names) which realized, among other things, a 1.4 cylinder turbocharged 1.4 engine for the Sport 2 litre category.
With the advent of the "Group C" the engine renamed "Giannini" for regulatory reasons allowed the conquest of the 1983 and 1984 world title in the "C-Junior /C2" category combined with the chassis of Alba Engineering.

In 1981 with a turbocharged Ferrari 308 GTB they developed, they also set the fastest lap time in the 24 Hours of Daytona.

(wikipedia source)

"Listening to Facetti's stories is exciting because they take us back to a time when the pilot did a bit of everything from mechanic to tester, with a meager salary and few honours in the newspapers." (cmae.it)